Dreaming the Reality Away
by HoodedSpellcaster
Summary: Based on the story "Alice in Wonderland". Naminé is a young daughter of a wealthy man with an odd habit to draw her repetitive dreams. Years later in her betrothal party she sees a man with rabbit ears and ends up following him into a world of her dreams. Is anything there real or not?
1. Chapter 2-1

Alice in Wonderland

Summary: Naminé is a young daughter of a wealthy man with an odd habit to draw her repetitive dreams. Years later in her betrothal party she sees a man with rabbit ears and ends up following him into a world of her dreams. Is anything there real or not?

Pairing: slight(?) Marluxia x Naminé, some others mentioned

Rating: T

Warnings: Same warnings will go on... Characters are very badly OOC, some minor yaoi, AU, grammatical errors, non-explicit stuff, Disney-based.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts now, and I never will. Not in this lifetime at least. This story is mine, though.

-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: I never actually planned starting to write a KH version of the "Alice in Wonderland" but because my friend suggested it I decided to try writing it.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Prologue

Once in a small trading town lived an old merchant, who was blessed with two children: one son, one daughter. They lived in a grand country house, nearby a small trading town by the sea. Behind the house was a field with all kinds of flowers, and in the middle of the field was a beautiful and lush tree. It was the merchant's daughter's favorite place.

"_Naminé…!"_

The daughter's name was Naminé and she was sweet and lovable, very artistic little girl. Six years of age and the apple of her father's eye.

_The hare and mouse calmed down and stopped their merry tea party to listen. They glanced first at one another, then at the man on the other side of the table. The man who was wearing a top hat and a fancy pink dress suit smiled at the girl who was sitting at the table._

"_Did you hear that, miss?" the man asked quietly from a little girl, pouring more tea into the little porcelain teacup the girl was holding._

_The girl blinked, looking around. "Hear what, Mr. Hatter?"_

Naminé slept peacefully in a shadow under the tree, her lips curling into a cute little smile as her brother walked towards her sleeping body.

"_Naminé…! Wake up!"_

"_He's calling you", the hatter told." You have to wake up."_

Naminé's brother shook the girl's shoulders.

"_Wake up…? But… I'm not asleep", the girl said and looked up at the hatter's eyes. "Or am I?"_

_The hatter pecked a kiss on the girl forehead and retreated few steps, waving at her. "I guess you have to go, Naminé…"_

_The girl is held her head. "I don't want to leave yet… I can't…!" she cried out, reaching for the hatter as she realized her body had started to disappear. "No! I promise I'll come back! Wait for me!"_

_The hatter gave a bright smile and nodded. "I'll wait. No matter how long it takes."_

"_Naminé… Naminé! …_ Naminé! Wake up."

The girl opened her eyes and rubbed them, giving a loud yawn. She looked at her brother, who was still holding her from her shoulders. Naminé pouted a little at Roxas who had interrupted her dream. The boy had messy blonde hair and a childish glint in his blue eyes. He flashed a smile at the girl. "Father's been calling us for a while."

Naminé, who had blue eyes like her brother and platinum blonde hair, shot her brother with a soft glare. Instead of getting up she took her purse and opened it.

"I saw that dream again, Roxas", she said, digging up her crayons and sketchbook from the purse. She picked a crayon and opened the book. "And you woke me up."

"I can do many things", Roxas snarled in his regular 'I'm-older-than-you-so-I-can-do-anything' tone. "And waking you up is one of them. It's my duty as your big brother." Naminé pouted at the comment.

"But you interrupted my precious dream", she told disappointedly and toyed with the pink crayon.

"You saw that same one again? You know what I think of it" Roxas said a bit displeasedly, tilting his head and descended to the same level as the girl to see better what Naminé was now drawing. The girl nodded, not raising her eyes from the sketch as her crayon moved rapidly on the paper. She was very good at drawing even though she was so young. Suddenly she stopped, raised her crayon from the paper, looked at the sketch and gave a rueful sigh. Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"I can't remember his face", Naminé told, gritting her teeth as she gave the closed sketchbook to Roxas. The blonde boy curiously riffled the pages even though he did so once in a while. It never tired him but yet it made him wonder was his sister really completely sane. One after one the pages showed characters of Naminé's repetitive dream, and geez, it was getting weirder than it already was. A rabbit with a pocket watch, a widely grinning cat, a caterpillar blowing smoke rings in the air…

"This is a new part", Roxas noted, seeing finally a new picture. The scene portrayed a tea party, a very insane tea party. There was a hare holding a tea pot and a mouse sitting in a cup. There were notes and cards all over the table among with cupcakes and other bakery. And then there was a human, a man to be exact. "What's wrong with him?" Roxas pointed at the third person in the drawing. The man was wearing a fancy top hat and brightly colored dress suit and he was holding a bouquet of flowers. But what made him so creepy was that he had no facial features at all. Naminé shook her head sadly when Roxas looked at her.

"I just can't remember what he looks like", she replied with a slight smile. "When I'm asleep everything is crystal clear but when I open my eyes I forget… All my dreams feel so real, like I'm really living in those dreams and not in the real world."

"I think you've gone mad", Roxas said in a very serious tone, hesitating to give the sketchbook back to the girl. "It can't be healthy to see same dream over and over again. This is going too far. Have you told dad? He can give you some pills or call a doctor or-"

Naminé raised her hand on Roxas' mouth and gave him a smile. "All the best people are mad."

Roxas frowned. "Listen what you're saying, Naminé", he said quietly. "You have to stop dreaming those things."

The girl gasped. "But I can't."

"Yes, you can", Roxas said and pulled Naminé into a hug. "And I'll help you. Let's go now."

Naminé gave an unsure nod as Roxas let go of her. When they walked back to their home she once glanced back.

"…_No matter how long it takes."_

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Chapter 1. All the Best People Are Mad

Ten years passed in a blur. Thanks to the pills Naminé got from her uncle, Vexen, she didn't see dreams anymore. For a child it had been very hard to adapt to the new situation, yet Naminé didn't blame anyone for losing her dreams. She retained all the memories of the place she could and she had started to call by a name _Wonderland_. When Roxas moved to a boarding school over the sea, Naminé was left to live alone with their father.

"I can't believe you did this to me", Naminé whispered trough her teeth, standing next to her father, Ansem the Wise. She waved at the men her father had called to their home. She crossed her hands and glanced coldly at Ansem. She really hated meeting new people. She preferred staying alone in her room, drawing and reading because being with other people made her feel uncomfortable, and she knew Ansem know that. That's why Ansem didn't stop her from carrying the sketchbook with her. Naminé held the book purse very tightly, her knuckles almost turning white.

"Naminé dear", Ansem whispered gently at his daughter. "These men are my business partners. You have to act like you care about my reputation for once. This day will be very important for our future." He tied a silver necklace on Naminé's slender neck. "Consider this as… your late birthday present."

Naminé gave a suspicious frown, slackening her grip from the book purse. "Fine", she said, giving a sigh. "But I'm not happy about this." Ansem had started spent more time with Naminé during past few weeks, and it made his little girl even more suspicious. Yet, she patiently had a small talk with most of the men. When she was sure she had at least smiled at all of them she sighed, deciding to take a break of such a pain. How she'd liked to run away from situations like that. She twitched as she saw a man in an old dress suit approaching her. The man flipped his white hair as he was on a polite speaking distance.

"Well, congratulations", he said solemnly. "So you're the lucky girl."

Naminé blinked. "I guess." She thought the man was referring to her late birthday present. "And you are…?"

"Gabbiani, Setzer Gabbiani. But you can call me Setzer", the man told, giving a chuckle. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too", Naminé replied with a slight, polite smile. "What brings you here, Mr. Setzer?"

Setzer blinked, very surprised because of the question. "Oh, you're such a teaser, Naminé", the man finally said, holding back his laughter. "I didn't know you tell jokes. Have you already talked to my nephew? Now that I've met you I have to say you have much in common. He's-"

"Naminé!" Both Naminé and Setzer turned to look at Ansem the Wise. The old man smiled widely when he saw who his little girl was talking to. "Oh, Setzer. It seems you've met my daughter."

The tall whitette nodded. "Yes, my friend, and she's very lovely, just like you've told me", he said. "I'm sure this liaison will be good for our business."

"Indeed, indeed", Ansem hummed, gaining confused look from Naminé. "And this will be great day for our families, too. Since we just decide the day we'll-"

Naminé quickly jerked Setzer's sleeve, gaining the man's attention. "I'm sorry Mr. Setzer, but I think I need to have a little talk with my _dad_", she said with a slight, yet bothered, smile.

Setzer chuckled. "Such an innocent child you are. Well, I don't see why not but-"

Naminé had already grabbed Ansem's hand before Setzer even had finished his sentence. The girl almost dragged the old man behind the corner before she let go of her father.

She glared at the man angrily. "This isn't just any party, isn't it?!"Naminé hissed, finally figuring out what's all the fuss about. "You are trying to get me married! How dare you do something like that behind my back…?!"

"You ignorant girl! Listen to yourself! Did I raise you to talk like that!?" Ansem shouted, gaining a shocked look from his daughter. Naminé looked at the ground now, clenching her fist. Ansem coughed couple times before continuing more gently. "You need to understand that it's high time for you to get married. It will be good for my affairs, too. Setzer is one of my most important business partners, and his nephew, Seifer, isn't much older than you are. You'll make a great couple and I'm sure you'll like him."

Naminé glared at the old man once more. "But I don't want to get married. And you can't force me."

Ansem slapped Naminé's cheek and the girl fell to the ground. Ashamed and shocked of what he had done he reached down for Naminé but the girl pushed his hand away. Naminé moved her hand to touch the hitted cheek, tears pouring from her eyes.

"I hate you", she whispered, getting up from the ground. She ran away and pushed a man with long, blonde hair off her way. The man walked to Ansem a very confused look in his eyes.

"Did I interrupt something?" the man asked, looking surprisedly at Ansem.

The old man shook his head, frowning. "Not at all, Vexen. I was just… trying to be a good parent."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naminé, who was now both enraged and disappointed, run behind the house, wiping her flowing tears. She sat down leaning the wall and hugged her knees. She didn't actually cry anymore. She was too angry for that. "Why is this happening to me…?"

"What do I see here?"

Naminé raised her gaze to see a grinning woman. The woman's blonde hair was slicked-back and there were two tresses of hair pointing out like antennas.

"Aunt Larxene…?" Naminé managed to say trough her surprise. "When did you arrive? What are you doing here-?"

The woman sneered and descended down to violently ruffle Naminé's hair. "How many times I have to say it's "Miss Larxene"?!" she yelled.

"I'm sorry!" Naminé whimpered, making Larxene finally let go of her. The older woman gave a sad smile, noticing that everything certainly wasn't alright.

"Why have you cried, baby girl?" she asked a hint of compassion clearly audible in her usually spiteful voice.

"I just had a little argument with dad", Naminé told with a slight smile. "I'm fine, really."

"Hey, that can't be all. You can tell me. Like always."

And so Naminé told Larxene, who was a sister of Vexen, everything what had happened during the day. "An arranged marriage!" Larxene exclaimed. "I can't believe he got something as low as that planned for you!" She was now very angry. She had stood up and was ready to march straight to Ansem for making Naminé upset. "I'm gonna talk to him! No, I'm going to kill him! No one makes my baby girl cry with a reason like that!"

"No! No, you don't need to", Naminé whimpered and grabbed the woman's hand. She had started crying again when she was talking to Larxene. "It's just… why doesn't dad understand me…?"

"Because he's dumb?" Larxene blurted out and sat back down. She wrapped her arms around the younger to console the sobbing girl. "I mean it, really. It's not your fault. He's never been the smartest when it comes to… well, anything."

"After all, he's my dad", Naminé sighed and gave her aunt a faint smile to show she was fine. Her cheek didn't hurt anymore. "But he should think about my feelings more. When he sent Roxas away I…" Naminé bit her lip. She missed Roxas a lot.

"Hush, baby girl", Larxene reassured the tiny blonde. "Roxas will come back when the first vacation starts."

Naminé nodded. It was true. "I know", she stated simply. She looked up at the sky. "Larxene, do you ever feel like…?" The rest of her sentence's ended up being a whisper.

"Feel like what?" Larxene asked rather bluntly.

"Feel like you don't belong here", Naminé said quietly. "Because I feel. And sometimes I wonder… If I really belong to some different place. To the world of my own…"

"I don't understand a single world you're saying", Larxene snarled. "A world of your own…?"

Naminé didn't bother herself by explaining her words to Larxene. Instead she sighed, glancing quickly the sketch book she had left on the ground and let her gaze wander around the backyard. At the backyard's gate a tanned man with long silver hair wearing a waistcoat was glancing nervously at the golden pocket watch he was holding on the other hand. On his other hand instead was a bright, silver knife. When his gaze suddenly met Naminé's, he startled and quickly ran away from Naminé's line of sight.

"Did you see that?" Naminé asked, looking at Larxene, very confused. The older woman blinked and looked curiously around the backyard.

"See what?" Larxene asked, not seeing anything different which made her rather annoyed. "I don't see anything."

"I'm sure I saw a man standing right there", Naminé told, making Larxene sigh.

"Geez, baby girl, there's a yard full of men", the older said, rolling her eyes. "It's no surprise if you see one who has for some reason strayed to the backyard."

"No, I mean I haven't seen him here before", the young blonde said. "That man was different… somehow. I'm sure he had bunny ears."

Larxene began to laugh. "Bu-bunny ears?!" she laughed. "Are you sure he-?"

"There he is again!" Naminé yelled, seeing the man with the watch looking over the hedge so she and immediately sat up from the ground and snatched her sketchbook purse. She waved at Larxene while she ran towards the gate to follow the weird man. "I'm sorry, aunt Larxene! I'll come back soon! Keep my dad busy!"

"Hey, Naminé! Wait!" Larxene yelled. But Naminé didn't listen to her anymore.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Mister, please! Wait for me!" Naminé pleaded, trying to keep her speed up as she followed the man. They were now on the field where Naminé used to spend her time when she was younger.

"I can't! I'm busy, I'm late!" the rabbit-man cried out, approaching the large tree in the middle of the field. He glanced at Naminé over his shoulder. "I most certainly can't be late!"

Naminé frowned, getting tired of running. "Why are you so busy, mister-?"

"Xemnas! Xemnas is my name!" the man exclaimed and stopped running. He looked under the tree and shook his head rapidly. "Oh god, the Queen is going to kill me! No, not me! _Him_! I'm late! Late!"

"Wait!" Naminé exclaimed but in a moment, the rabbit-man was gone. Naminé stopped, and walked warily to the tree. Under it was a rabbit hole she didn't remember to be there. She grimaced, looking back to the house. She turned back to the tree and glanced to the dark abyss. Naminé took a deep breath.

"I must be mad to do this", she mumbled and kneeled down to look into the rabbit hole. She couldn't see further than her nose, yet, she was intrigued to enter the hollow. Without considering the consequences more, she crawled inside. "Well, this isn't as bad as I expected-!" The rabbit hole dipped suddenly down, causing Naminé to fall into the darkness. She screamed, unable to do anything else and closed her eyes and kept them shut until she felt she wasn't falling anymore. She felt like she was floating. And she was.

"What is this…?" she asked, now looking around herself. She was confused, but still, amazed. All kinds of objects around the holes walls – clocks, paintings, furniture, books, and decorations – drew her attention on them. Naminé, no matter how scared she actually still was, admired what she saw. It all reminded her of something she couldn't clearly remember.

Finally Naminé's fall ended as she lightly landed on the marble floor. She quickly got herself up from the floor when she heard the familiar mumbling of being late and saw Xemnas' shadow further away.

"Wait for me, mister Xemnas!" Naminé called and followed the shadow into the large hallway which was covered with weird mirrors. "What is this place…?" Naminé mumbled under her breath, looking as her reflection twisted differently in every mirror. Before she arrived into the room in the end of the corridor she heard a sound of a closing door. Naminé hurried to the door and found it unlocked. But behind the door she found another one, and behind that door was one even smaller door. Frowning she opened one door after another until one door didn't agree to open up. Besides the door was so small that even how hard Naminé would have tried she wouldn't get through it no matter how petite she was.

"There must be some trick", Naminé muttered, still trying to open the door. If Xemnas got through it so would she. She wasn't actually sure why she was following him but for some reason it felt right.

"Do you want to open the door?"

Naminé looked around the room but she didn't see anyone.

"I'm down here!"

Blinking her eyes Naminé glanced down. She was very surprised of what she saw. The talker had been a very tiny girl, maybe size of Naminé's thumb. The little girl looked up at Naminé, smiling slightly. She had blue eyes and short black hair and she wore a black robe.

"Hello", she greeted as Naminé picked her up from her hood. "Be careful with that."

"Oh, sorry", Naminé chuckled and let the little girl sat on her hand. "I'm Naminé."

The little girl smiled. "I am Xion. I guard this door."

"How can you guard it when you're so small?"

"I can do many things", Xion snarled, pointing accusingly at Naminé. The blonde gasped and almost dropped Xion. The little girl had sounded just like Roxas.

"Be-be more careful!" Xion whined, holding tightly on Naminé's finger. "I don't want to fall!"

Naminé let Xion down because she was afraid she would drop or hurt her. "I just… I remembered my brother", she apologized after finally catching her breath. Xion really had sounded like Roxas, she thought, being still a bit shocked. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry 'bout that", Xion said, patting Naminé's hand. "But what brings you here?"

"Oh. I was following a rabbit", Naminé told quickly, gaining a very suspicious look from Xion. "A man with bunny ears", she corrected. "He said his name was Xemnas."

Now Xion's smile fell. "Oh, that's bad. Very bad", she said, shaking her head thoughtfully.

Naminé tilted her head. "How so?"

"He went that way." She pointed the small door with her thumb. "And you're too big to get through the door", Xion said and pointed then at the table. "But that should help you."

Naminé stood up, curious to know what possibly could help her, and looked at the table. There was a small bottle marked "Drink me". Naminé hesitated to drink from the bottle but Xion seemed excited.

"Go on. Drink it", she said. Naminé gave a nod and took a sip of bottle's contents. She let out a loud gasp as she started shrinking. The change continued till she became the right size. Naminé looked curiously herself. She was still at least twice the size of Xion but still small enough to get finally through the door.

Naminé gave a bright smile. "Can you open the door for me now?"

"Oh, it's locked", Xion told and scratched her head. "Did you bring me my keyblade from the table?"

"You didn't say anything about a key", Naminé said with a frown.

"But without a keyblade I can't open the door."

Frustrated, Naminé crossed her hands and glared first at Xion and then at the table. "And how do you think I can get up there?" she asked, getting more frustrated because of her current situation.

"Easy, easy", Xion giggled, digging something from her pocket. She gave a smile as she showed Naminé a cookie. "You just have to eat this. It's that easy."

Naminé frowned skeptically, but took the cookie from Xion. "Well, for better or worse…" When the girl took a bite of the small cookie, she suddenly grew so large her head hitted the ceiling. Xion began to laugh at Naminé's misfortune.

"Ha ha, very funny", the blonde snarled and rubbed her head. It was definitely going to leave a bump. Then she grabbed the very tiny silver key from the table and dropped it to Xion. "What are we going to do now? I can't fit the door anymore."

Xion hummed, hugging her keyblade, or that's how she called it, and didn't listen to Naminé at all.

"Xion!" Naminé cried out, very annoyed.

"Yes yes", Xion chuckled. "Just drink the rest of the bottle. I'll open the door for you."

Xion's look changed. She looked more serious now as she pointed at the lock with the key very intently. Naminé, who was now small again, looked as Xion just stood there.

Naminé raised her eyebrow as nothing happened. "Xion…?" Suddenly a beam of light emerged from the key. It hitted the lock, unlocked it, and forced the door to open. Naminé's eyes widened as the door was wide opened in front of her eyes.

Xion flashed a smile. "Here you go."

"Thank you, Xion, thank you!" Naminé exclaimed happily, quickly hugged Xion and rushed out from the door. Xion who was now left alone tilted her head.

"Should I have warned her?" she pondered, scratching her head as the door closed before her eyes. "Well, it's too late now…"

-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: Like always, reviews are appreciated~


	2. Chapter 2-2

Chapter 2. The Connected Memories

Naminé looked around. "This place is definitely not a rabbit hole", she mumbled. The sky was so blue it was hard to believe she was underground. Following the path further from the door she found herself from a weird forest. And worst of all, she felt like someone was watching her.

Hiding in the darkness were indeed two boys who looked exactly the same. People called them "twins", but yet, no one knew better than them that actually the other one of them was just a copy, a replica of another. Too bad, neither of them really remembered anymore which one wasn't a real person. Curiously they looked after Naminé when she walked deeper into the forest.

"It's a girl", another of them said, quiet enough that Naminé who was walking past them couldn't hear him talk.

"I can see it's a girl", the other snarled.

"Of course you can see that. You are me."

"Don't start that again. We decided that you are me today, and tomorrow I am you again."

"You're making this too complicated, Repliku."

"Look who's talking, Riku."

Naminé sighed and sat on the tree trunk when she came across another turning. "I guess I'm never going to find him like this", she mumbled. "Which way to go?" She stood up, annoyed. "This way?! That way?! What way is the right way?!"

Behind the trees Repliku let out a chuckle. "She's probably going the wrong way anyway", he noted with a grin. "This is our forest. We know the ways."

"We know the wrong way could be the right way", Riku replied sneakily. "But this time the wrong way is the wrong way and the right way is the right way."

"Which way is up and which way is down? Which leads to light, which to demise?"

"That's what I like in you. Our way is the right way."

While the twins talked, Naminé was getting so frustrated she even shed few tears. "Why isn't there anyone to help me…? Roxas… Xion, Xemnas… Anyone…"

Riku and Repliku looked one another, smirking. The girl was so worth of pitying but that just wasn't their style. It had been so long when they had made fun of someone, and now they had a chance. Like one person, both whitettes appeared from darkness of the forest exactly same time and crept behind Naminé.

"Hello there, the damsel in distress", Repliku greeted, approaching Naminé from her left. "Need a guide?"

"We don't have visitors here often", Riku continued, taking Naminé's right hand and pecked a kiss on it. "What brings you here, miss…?"

Naminé gave a shy smile and wiped away her tears with her left hand. "Oh, I'm Naminé", she said.

Repliku's eyes widened. "Naminé…?"

"The Naminé…?" Riku repeated and he immediately let go of Naminé's hand.

"That one particular Naminé?" Repliku tried, staring at Naminé.

Naminé shook her head, ashamed. "Just… Naminé."

Riku and Repliku exchanged glances. "Hmm, maybe she isn't our Naminé", Riku finally said. "I mean, she's nothing like our Naminé."

Repliku nodded. "I agree. Our Naminé was much smaller."

"And younger", Riku continued, shaking his head. "But it has been so long…"

"But we promised, whatever happens, to protect her. Are you _the_ Naminé?"

A little vexed because of their way to talk to her Naminé stood up. Yes, she had asked for help but it was clear that these two weren't going to help her. "I'm just Naminé. Now, thank you very much, but I really have to go", she said, trying to hide her irritation. "I need to find Xemnas."

"Xemnas, eh? Do you even know him?" Riku asked, sounding a little meaner than he intended. His voice became softer when he continued. "You really shouldn't follow strangers."

Repliku gulped. "Or you could end up like… _them_."

Now Naminé was getting curious, and finally her curiosity won her annoyance. She sat back down, between Riku and Repliku. "Who are you talking about?" she asked.

Riku had to fight to hide his smirk. "Oh, you don't really want to know…"

"Please, tell me", Naminé begged. It could be important, she thought. She didn't know this weird world well enough. Every little piece of information would be useful.

Riku coughed. "Fine. Listen carefully. Once in this land lived three kids…"

"There was Hayner and Pence and Olette. The first was perky, the second was chubby, and the third was very sweet", Repliku told, counting the kids with his fingers. "They came from the out-in door, you see, they came here by an accident and decided to stay."

"They traveled through this land."

"The land of dreams. Through the Wonderland."

"The Wonderland?" Naminé repeated. It had a more familiar echo than it should have.

"Uh-huh." Repliku nodded. "But they went too close to the places they shouldn't. They were too curious, too naïve. They run to this man with spiky hair and a massive sword, and they followed him from one place to another."

"The man, Cloud was his name, told them not to follow strangers", Riku said. "And they promised to not do so. But did they keep their promise?" He shook his head. "No."

"It wasn't long after when they met this man, Sephiroth, in the middle of the night. He flashed a smile, asked them to come over. And he seemed so nice the kids didn't remember Cloud's warnings. So they followed Sephiroth."

"They followed and followed. Until Olette finally asked: "Are we there yet?" Sephiroth didn't answer, and the kids kept following."

"Next it was Pence's turn to ask the same question, and again, Sephiroth didn't answer.

"And at last, when they were in the middle of nowhere and Hayner asked it, Sephiroth looked at them, coldly."

"And he said: "I told you not to follow strangers.""

Naminé's eyes widened.

"The kids tried to run."

"Sephiroth laughed while stabbing them."

"It was very funny. The killing spree."

The twins chuckled. "Do not follow strangers", Repliku hummed.

"Do not follow Xemnas", Riku continued. "You could end up losing something else than just… Oh, well." He took the sketchbook Naminé had dropped to the ground.

The girl frowned. She didn't feel afraid, no matter how much the twins tried to scare her. It just made her think she have to be more careful and not to trust anyone. But she was sure about one thing. "You're wrong. Xemnas wouldn't hurt me", she said.

"Yeah, maybe he wouldn't", Riku admitted, leafing through the book. "But the Red Queen would."

"And Xemnas works for her. That means he's a bad guy. End of the story", Repliku told bluntly and snatched the sketchbook from Riku. "What's that?"

"Drawings made by a two year old", Riku stated with a smirk and continued glancing through the pages. Suddenly he stopped. Repliku looked almost terrified.

"Hey! I was six!" Naminé told with a pout but she was silenced as Riku slapped his hand on Naminé's lips. She moved it, very annoyed. "What now…?"

"Where did you get this?" Repliku asked and pointed at the book. His tone nearly scared Naminé but the girl kept herself calm.

"I've drawn them", she said.

Riku and Repliku looked at one another. Repliku nodded to the other whitette.

"So you just… don't really remember us?" Riku showed the page to Naminé. There were two smiling boys with short, messy white hair. They were poorly drawn to the paper with crayons. "It really is you, Naminé. You have drawn us right here, don't you remember?"

"I… I don't know…" A wave of pain hitted her head. "My head hurts…!"

She closed her eyes. The feeling turned to be more than just pain. A sensation and a pain mixed into a flow of memories. It struck her, would have been able to break her. It became more like a dreamlike feeling when the pain lessened. She saw herself, as a little child. _"Let's play hide-and-seek!"_ Naminé opened her eyes. She let out bloodcurdling scream and fell on her knees, holding her head.

The sunlight was blocked by thousands of black creatures. The forest wasn't so empty anymore. It was completely vice versa! Riku and Repliku moved to protect Naminé from the horrid monsters.

Repliku gritted his teeth. "The Red Queen's alliance", he snarled. "They're playing in a wrong forest."

"They're after Naminé", Riku reminded him, paying a quick look at the girl. "We can't just fight them now. She has to get away."

"I know that", Repliku said, rolling his eyes. "What about an old good portal trick?"

"Works everytime", Riku laughed coldly. Naminé held her head, looking how the twins took their battle positions. Repliku took the lead, smashing his blade which had been tied to his back to the creatures, making them disappear. He was destroying them, Naminé could see that.

Riku smiled sadly to the girl. "Get up. You'll leave now", he said. "The door you used to come here is probably under their control so we're playing you some time to get away."

Naminé stood up, holding the sketchbook she had got back from the twins.

"What about you?!" she asked, crying out loud. The pain was coming back and the dark creatures didn't make her feel better.

"We'll follow you when we can", Riku said, opening a dark portal for the girl. "Go on, jump! It won't stay open for…!" He was cut off by Repliku's cry. He was getting beaten up pretty badly. Riku took an exactly same looking blade from his back as Repliku had done. He then pushed Naminé to the portal that he could join the battle. "When you get safe, find Zexion! He knows how to help you!"

Naminé held back her tears. "But how do I know…!" The portal closed around her, making her voice unable to reach Riku anymore. _…How to find him?_

-o-o-o-o-o-

The darkness of the portal embraced Naminé and let her walk through it, yet it seemed never ending. How long had she wandered in the darkness already? Her eyes burned because the tears but she didn't want to give up. She held the sketchbook against her chest.

"Please", she murmured. _I need to get away from here… To help the Twins, to find Xemnas, to get known why my drawings and memories are connected to this world. And to know why I don't remember… _"Please…" As Naminé stopped walking and begged one more time the bright light overcame the darkness and for a moment everything was white. Naminé blinked to get used to the sunshine and bright colors. She wasn't inside the dark portal anymore, neither was she in the Forest of the Twins. Soft music was playing somewhere near. It made the warm, calling sounds twirl in the air. Naminé stood up from the minty green grass, cleaning her knees. With her sketchbook she began to walk closer to the music.

When she got closer she started to hear words, singing. Maybe she would find Zexion from there. She sighed. This would've been so much easier if she would have remembered who Zexion was. In the middle of the beautiful garden were a long table, filled with bakery and other ingredients of a great tea party. She saw two men sitting there and singing. Naminé opened the gate to the garden and walked towards them. The other one of them played an instrument looking a lot like guitar. He was younger and he had dressed up rather messily in bluish old dress suit. His hair was dirty blonde, same shade as his big, mouse-like ears. The other one looked older, more mature. He had short blonde hair and a goatee, in addition to two light brown rabbit ears. His suit was more formal. Black and white was its colors. They hadn't paid any attention on the girl who had walked to the tables other end.

"Um, excuse me?" Naminé said. The mouse boy continued strumming the weird blue instrument and none of them listened to her. Naminé frowned. "Excuse me?!" she yelled. "Could you help me?!"

The rabbit blinked, smiling now widely to the girl. "Oh, 'ello", he said as the other stopped playing. "You want a cup of tea?" He asked, filling a cup with hot drink. "Few lumps of sugar maybe?"

"No, I…!"

"No sugar?"

"No sugar?!" the other yelled.

"No!" Naminé cried out. "I mean…! I need your help. Can you help me?"

The blonde took a sip of his tea and hummed. "Well, it depends." He offered the cup. "We here appreciate manners. Tea?"

Naminé sat down to the table and took the cup she was offered. "Thank you", she said, taking a sip. "Where am I?"

"In a Hatter's garden", the mouse told, eating small cookies from a jar. He offered his cookie crunch covered hand to shake it with Naminé's. "I'm Demyx."

Naminé shook hands with him and smiled quite abashedly. "Nice to meet you. I'm…"

"And I'm Luxord", the hare said, taking Naminé's other hand to shake it. "How can we help you, little girl?" The hare gave a gentle smile. Naminé took her hands to herself and placed the sketchbook to the table from her lap.

"I'm looking for Zexion", she told. "Might you know where I can find him?"

Luxord and Demyx exchanged gazes. Luxord shook his head and drank the rest of his tea.

"Hmm. No, nah", he hummed. "Don't know anyone by that name, right? Demyx?"

"Never heard of", Demyx agreed. "We don't anything about that all-knowing smokey pot caterpillar."

"A caterpillar?" Naminé repeated. Luxord laughed, shooting the mouse with a glare.

"We don't know what you're talking-"

"They sent me to talk a caterpillar!" the girl yelled. "How did they think that would help me?! I followed a rabbit, I lost over half of my height, I got attacked by ugly creatures and got pushed to the dark portal, and now I should ask help from a caterpillar!? "

Demyx hid himself under the table as Naminé continued yelling. It took few minutes until Naminé's rage partly vanished. She had cleared the table, literally. The broken tea set was found from the grass among with the smashed bakery.

"And… who you said you were?" Luxord asked nervously, shivering from the fear Naminé had caused him to feel. He was holding the only unbroken tea pot out of the girl's reach.

"I. Am. Naminé", the girl said. A new sensational wave of pain hitted her. _"Sing with us, Naminé. It's easy! __A very merry unbirthday to you!" _Naminé held her forehead, looking around. The last remains of her rage flowed away, leaving only newfound memories and regret to her mind. "What have I done…?" she mumbled. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Luxord" She kneeled to look under the table. "I'm sorry, Mr. Demyx."

Luxord helped Naminé up and placed his hands on Naminé's shoulders. Naminé whimpered, looking at the hare. "What's happening to me?" she asked. Even her sketchbook had dropped from the table, and it had opened from the page where a drawing of a tea party was. One of the last drawings she had on the book. Demyx picked up the open book, giving it to Naminé. He looked at the page.

"I remember that day", he said with a shy smile.

"Very merry unbirthday", Naminé whispered.

Both, the hare and the mouse hugged the girl tightly. "Welcome back, Naminé", Luxord hummed. "We'll take you now to meet Zexion."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naminé was getting tired. She yawned often and traveled most of the way on Luxord's back. The day had been exhausting for her. At last they arrived to a patch of a crystallized march.

"Naminé", Luxord started gently, letting Naminé down. "You have to stand on your own now."

Naminé nodded. She was ready to meet Zexion. She walked with Luxord and Demyx in front of a giant mushroom. Naminé looked up and let out a silent gasp. There was boy was sitting on the mushroom, holding a water pipe. He looked very young, not older than Naminé herself, perhaps. Only his left eye was visible because his steel blue hair covered the other one. He raked Naminé calmly from her head to her toes.

"I've been waiting for you, Naminé", he said, recognizing the girl. He blew out a ring of smoke. "Your return to Wonderland would have been a pleasant surprise if it wouldn't have happened now." He jumped down from the top of the mushroom gracefully as a butterfly. Calling him a caterpillar started to sound more like an insult. "The Hatter had been waiting for you the most. What a pity", he continued, facing Naminé only few feet away. Naminé glanced at Luxord, very confused since she couldn't remember who the Hatter was.

"Where is he now?" Luxord asked Zexion. "The Hatter. Is he…?"

The caterpillar nodded. "He had been called to the Red Queen's court", he told in a calm tone. "But he's alright for now. Not much use of talking about him now when he's not here. I'm more interested in our little princess." He looked at Naminé. "You don't remember me, don't you?"

Naminé shook her head. "No, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's good."

"Good?" Naminé murmured, blinking. "How can it be good?"

"When your memories return, you're being especially easy target. The pain, memories flowing back. It feels like you're dying", Zexion told in a rather mean voice, making Naminé frown. "I'm right, am I? They can sense you then. The dark creatures."

There was a moment of silence. "Does she know Naminé's here?" Demyx asked warily. "Have they told? Are we safe here?"

"She doesn't know she's with us here", Zexion noted. "But she knows Naminé's in Wonderland. Has known from the start."

"Who knows?" Naminé asked, slightly curious.

"You share a strong resemblance with her", Zexion sighed, glaring at Naminé. "You look like the Red Queen."


End file.
